


Beached

by amoleofmonsters



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Planet, Kissing, M/M, Memory Loss, Sheith Positivity Week 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 03:52:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11661066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amoleofmonsters/pseuds/amoleofmonsters
Summary: Keith was arguably the worst at dealing with his feelings. Luckily, Shiro was pretty good at dealing with Keith's feelings.





	Beached

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't have the creative stamina to write seven fics for Sheith Positivity Week so instead I wrote a fic that was an amalgamation of a bunch of prompts from the week. Hope you all like it!

The first thing that Shiro noticed upon climbing out of the castle was that the sky was a light lavender. It was so unlike the clear blue hues he was used to. No matter how many planets they visited, it seemed that the strangeness still got to him. Soft, white clouds floated up in the sky, occasionally floating in front of the single sun. He couldn’t help but feel grateful that not everything was completely different. 

The planet they landed on was primarily water, most of the land condensed in large islands scattered throughout the vast oceans. Some were smaller and more modest, but many of the bigger ones housed great metropolises. Giant bridges connected the islands and dozens of huge, technologically advanced barges were docked along the beaches. The Castle of Lions had landed on a large patch of beach on one of the larger islands. From the air, it had seemed that most of the island was taken up by a packed city cluttered with skyscrapers. The other half was dense, tropical woodland. The planet had been marked as safe; they could rest and recuperate for a few days. 

A blue, tall, humanoid alien approached the castle. The alien was bald, towering about three feet over Shiro’s head, and wore a blue cloak. The alien looked at them for a moment before smiling and saying, “Welcome to Keshiyria. This is the island of Poagantu. I’m a representative sent from city hall. We saw you land and figured you’d want a welcome. There are thousands of amazing locations on this island fit for your relaxation, but if you take the Great Bridge across, you’ll find our smaller sister island, Cherotis, where you may experience more of the local wildlife. Please enjoy your stay.” With that, the alien pressed a button on their wrist and disappeared with a flash of light. 

“Oh boy!” screamed Coran. “The only thing that’s changed is Keshiyria is even more cool! I used to come here all the time. It’s one of the most beautiful planets in the universe!” Without even waiting for the rest of them, Coran ran straight into the depths of the island. 

“Woo hoo! Vacation!” screamed Lance. He hooked his arm with Hunk’s and grabbed Pidge by the wrist, pulling both of them towards the city. “The rest of you keep up! I can’t drag everyone!”

“I’m going to go chase after Coran and make him come to a diplomatic visit with me. I’ll see you all later,” said Allura.

“Do you want me to come with you?” said Shiro.

Allura waved him away. “Please, enjoy yourself. Out of everyone, you deserve a break the most. Coran and I will handle the politics.” With that, she walked off in the direction that Coran had gone. 

“Shall we?” said Keith, sliding up to Shiro’s side. Shiro smiled and nodded. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge had already disappeared into town and he followed Keith after them. 

The second Shiro stepped into the city he was surrounded by the tallest skyscrapers he had ever seen. Many of the buildings were a black or dark gray and reflected the lavender of the sky. They were connected by massive walkways hanging over the city. The street they were on was packed and it forced Shiro to practically press up against Keith as they walked. Shiro resisted the urge to reach out and tangle their fingers together. 

Suddenly, something tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to look at one of the locals who was wearing a white robe and what looked like a black fez. “Popsicle?” said the aforementioned local, waving over to a stand at the side of the street. 

Shiro poked Keith’s arm. Keith turned to look at him, and he pointed towards the stand. “Wanna try some Keshiyrian popsicles?” asked Shiro. Keith nodded. The stand owner handed them two bright yellow spheres on top of sticks. “What do I owe you?” asked Shiro, reaching into his pocket to get out some of the coins Coran had given him. 

“Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s the least I can do for the Paladins of Voltron,” said the vendor. 

Shiro nodded. “Thank you.” He passed Keith one of the popsicles and popped the other into his mouth. It tasted vaguely like passion fruit and chocolate; the cold felt refreshing against the hot and muggy air. 

“There you guys are!” Shiro spun around to see Lance fighting through the crowd toward him, flapping his arms. “I told you to keep up! Damn Keith, you’re rubbing off on him.” Shiro willed himself not to blush at the unfortunate secondary meaning of that statement. “There are some hot springs out on the other side of the island in the woodsy part. Apparently it’s super popular with tourists. So hurry up, we’re hauling ass! The princess is gonna meet us there!” Without waiting for an answer, Lance turned around and ran back into the direction he’d come from. 

Shiro turned to look at Keith with a raised eyebrow. Keith shrugged and ran after Lance, motioning Shiro to follow. Shiro tried not to think about the fluttering feeling in his stomach. 

Conveniently enough, all they had to do was head straight and eventually, the city broke out into trees. The rest of the group was standing at a sign at the edge of the woods. “What’s this?” asked Keith as they approached.

“Pidge is trying to figure out if this is the direction we’re supposed to go,” said Hunk. 

“Well, do you see any other sign? They said the path started right at the city limits. Besides, this island stops somewhere. If we walk past the springs, we’ll turn back,” said Lance. 

Keith raised a skeptical eyebrow at Lance. Shiro just shrugged and said, “I guess you’re right. Coran did say this island was safe so we might as well explore.” 

A sharp squawking sound pierced the air above them. Shiro looked up to see a giant, colorful bird diving through the air towards him and Keith. Shiro, on autopilot, jumped towards Keith and covering him as the bird flew past them towards a tree. Shiro looked up to see it perched on a branch, looking completely uninterested in what was below it. 

“Um... thanks for saving me from the wild life, Shiro, but I think the threat has passed.” Shiro blushed and stepped away from Keith. Keith refused to meet his eyes. 

Looking away, Shiro mumbled, “Sorry, I overreacted.” 

“No, it’s okay... it’s just kind of confusing for me, is all,” said Keith. Shiro was about to ask him what he meant, but Keith ran up ahead to fall in line with Hunk, Lance, and Pidge as they walked into the forest. Shiro was left straggling behind, already missing Keith by his side. 

After ten minutes of walking, the trees started to part and a river appeared. They followed the river up until they came across a giant, wooden building with black, modern paneling. They walked into the lobby and Allura jumped up from the chair she was sitting in. “You made it!” 

“How was the diplomatic visit?” said Shiro. 

“Boring as expected, but I’ve ensured that we won’t be bothered while we’re here. The Keshiyrians promised that they will try to keep our visit as secret as possible. Now, I’m so excited for these hot springs! I haven’t seen them since I was a kid!” said Allura with a giant grin. She approached the Keshiyrian standing at the front desk. “Hi, we’re looking to check in.” 

“Welcome to the Poagantu Springs. How many rooms will that be?” 

“How many rooms can we get?” 

“Typically, we book two people per room, but I was told you were coming and I can offer you the large suite on the top floor. It has four bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and a large common space.”

“Thank you very much, that sounds lovely,” said Allura with a smile. 

Shiro stopped listening as Allura sorted out some of the finer details and turned to look at Keith, who had settled into one of the chairs in the lobby and was fiddling with his gloves. He settled into the seat next to Keith and was about to ask what Keith had meant when they’d been on the path, but Allura popped up next to him with a series of keys. “The suite is on the top floor. I’ll room with Pidge and that’ll leave the rest of you to sort out where you’re sleeping. The last room will go to Coran whenever he gets here. We might end up staying here for the rest of our trip.” 

“Hell yeah, buddy! Sleep over!” said Hunk, hi-fiving Lance. The two of them grabbed their keys from Allura and ran to the stairs, Pidge laughing and chasing after them. Allura walked over and handed Shiro and Keith their keys before following the rest of the group. 

“Guess that means we’re roommates,” said Shiro, standing up and cracking his back. Keith grunted and followed Shiro upstairs. It turned out that there were only four floors to the building and their suite was on the right side of the fourth floor. Upon walking into the suite, Shiro saw a giant living room with a kitchen area coming off of it. Everything in the suite was either green or tan or a combination of the two. Six doors extended out from the common area, likely the bedrooms and the bathrooms. Two of the doors were propped open with Hunk, Pidge, Lance, and Allura talking across them. 

Keith made a beeline to one of the other bedroom doors and shoved it open. Shiro followed him into it. “Close the door,” ordered Keith. 

Shiro did as instructed. “Keith, is something wrong?” 

Keith sat on the edge of one of the double beds, his back to Shiro. It seemed that he currently found his fingers particularly interesting. “Everything’s fine. Let’s just enjoy our vacation.” 

“Bullshit, Keith. I know when you’re upset. Please just talk to me.” 

Keith bit his lip and looked up at Shiro. “Um... I just... I don’t really know how to talk about it.” 

Shiro sat down next to him on the bed. “Take all the time that you need. I’m here to listen.” 

Keith took a deep breath. “I just feel weird about us. I’m not mad at you or blame you or anything and I ignored this feeling for a while, but... I guess this is the first time we’ve really had a minute to relax and I can’t seem to forget about it. I’ve tried not to think about it, but then you disappeared for a second time. All my feelings from that year I was alone came back while you were gone.” 

A feeling of disgust and self-hatred bubbled in Shiro’s stomach. He bit his lip nervously. “Keith, you know you’re my friend and I care about you. I know I disappeared, not once but twice, but you have to understand that it wasn’t my fault. I’m here now and if I can help it, I’m never leaving again.” 

Keith stared up at him, his mouth open in shock. “No... Shiro, that’s not why I’m upset. Of course I don’t blame you for that! It was all Zarkon’s fault!”

The weird feeling in Shiro’s stomach dissipated and all that was left was confusion. “Then... if that’s not what’s bothering you, then what is it?” 

Keith looked away from Shiro, a soft blush peppering his cheeks. Shiro tried not to wonder how far the blush could travel under the right circumstances. “I... uh... okay, this is really stupid, and obviously so much has happened that it’s silly of me to even think about it, but... you promised we’d be together when you returned from the Kerberos mission and obviously I don’t expect you to keep that promise, but I guess I’d hoped for some sort of acknowledgement of my feelings, even if it was rejection. It’s stupid, I know.” 

Shiro stared at Keith for a few seconds, contemplating what he’d said before the meaning sunk in. “I... uh... wait, you have feelings for me?” Keith grew bright red and gaped up at Shiro. In the grand scheme of things Shiro could have said, that probably wasn’t the greatest answer.

There was a harsh banging on the door. “Come on, nerds! We’re going swimming!” It was Lance. 

“We’ll be there in a minute!” called Shiro. He turned to look back at Keith who was sitting there with his eyes wide and his mouth open. “I... uh... we should probably go for a swim.” Shit, that was an even worse thing to say. 

Keith started shaking and turned his face away from Shiro. Shiro felt like a fish out of water so he did the only thing he could think of: he got down on the ground in front of Keith and leaned in close, ensuring that Keith had to look at him. Keith hid his face in his hands, but Shiro could tell that he was crying. “Hey... hey... I don’t really know what to say right now, but I really just want to help you stop crying, so please tell me what I can do.” 

“Go away.” 

“Keith, I’m not gonna do that.”

There was another hard bang on the door. “Shiro! Keith! Come on!” screamed Lance. 

“You should go,” said Keith, the shakiness replaced with a cold tone. 

“Are you coming?” Keith shook his head. “Keith, I’m not gonna leave you in here to be sad.”

“Shiro, I’m gonna be okay. I just need some space. Please just give me some space.” 

Shiro sighed and stood up. “Okay, but I’m not done talking about this. I’ll be back and we’ll talk, okay?” 

When Keith didn’t say anything, Shiro sighed and walked out of the room. The rest of Team Voltron looked at him expectantly. “Where’s Keith?” asked Hunk. 

“He’s not feeling great. I figured we can let him sleep and then we can drag him outside later.” 

The group looked at each other in confusion and shrugged. “His loss, I guess,” said Pidge. 

They all headed out the back exit of the hotel where there was a waterfall lake. The waterfall the emptied into it wasn’t particularly large, but it added a serene element. A small path led to more private hot springs, but Lance ran straight to the lake and dived into the water. Hunk, Pidge, and Allura ran after him, laughing. Checking out the hot springs would have to wait until later. 

Shiro had been the only one to not change into his bathing suite. He’d been distracted by Keith and no part of him was willing to return to their room for the time being. Instead of following his friends in, he sat down on a rock and dipped his feet into the water. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of warmth at the scene in front of him. It wasn’t often that their little group managed to have a minute to themselves. 

Pidge paddled over to Shiro and balanced her forearms on the rock to look up at him. “Hey, did you and Keith have a fight?” 

Shiro was taken aback. “What makes you say that?” 

“You seem kind of out of it and also, I can recognize when Keith is sulking. The only time Keith sulks this much is when it’s over you.” 

“What? That’s not true.”

Pidge rolled her eyes. “Lance and Keith fight all the time, yet Keith just mostly sits there and pouts afterwards. Disappeared into his room is definitely a ‘something related to Shiro is upsetting me’ move.” 

Shiro was tempted to kick water into her face, but decided against it. “Did anyone ever tell you you’re scary perceptive for a seventeen-year-old?” 

“Listen, I didn’t pretend to be older and a boy for an entire year without being perceptive. Whatever is bothering Keith, I’m sure he’ll get his head out of his ass eventually.” 

“Pidge, language!” 

Pidge laughed. “You’re hardly old enough to parent me. You’re only twenty-three!” She kicked off of the rock and swam back to where Lance was trying to climb up on Hunk’s shoulders. Shiro sighed, his age feeling like some weird, alternate reality. He couldn’t believe it had been over a year since they’d discovered Voltron. 

He sat soaking up the warm sun for about two hours before it became unbearable. When he couldn’t take it anymore, he stood up and called out, “Hey, I’m gonna go try to see if I can change into my bathing suit. I’ll be back!” Lance waved in acknowledgement and Shiro ducked back into the hotel. 

Shiro walked up to the suite and opened the door, freezing immediately. Keith was lounging on one of the giant couches wearing one of the complimentary robes. The robe had been left open, revealing that Keith was wearing nothing but black boxers underneath. Shiro blushed bright red as Keith jumped off of the couch. 

“Sorry, sorry!” said Shiro, shielding his eyes with his hands. He was going to have to take at least three cold showers to get that image out of his head. 

“No, no! It’s my fault. I assumed everyone would be out all day. I’m more or less decent now so you can look at me!” 

Shiro dropped his hand from his eyes to see that Keith had tied the massive robe closed and was now standing and staring at his feet, his face bright red. “Um... how are you doing?” asked Shiro, desperate to stop his erection from forming.

Keith sighed and looked up. “Better. I’m sorry I freaked out. That wasn’t fair to you. I guess I just hadn’t imagined that reaction, of all things. Which was dumb. The Galra took a lot from you and I should have expected that your memory might have been one of those things. I’m sorry.”

Shiro sat down on the couch and motioned for Keith to sit down next to him. “It’s not your fault. I didn’t exactly do a good job of explaining things.” He took a deep breath. “I lost a lot of memories from right before I was kidnapped by the Galra that first time during the Kerberos mission. I’m not sure exactly how much time I lost, but it easily could have been around six months. I remember that we were friends back at the Garrison, but whatever promise I made you, it must have happened too close to the start of the mission for me to remember.” He took Keith’s hands in his own and stared into Keith’s eyes. “There’s nothing more that I want than to get those memories back.” 

Keith stayed silent for a moment. Then, he said, “It was the night before you left for the mission. We got together for one last movie night. Do you remember those?” 

Shiro chuckled; he remembered the time Keith had accidentally upended a bowl of popcorn on himself because he’d been so freaked out during a horror movie marathon. “How could I forget?” 

Keith visibly relaxed. “Yeah, well, I’d realized I had feeling for you a few months before, but with the Kerberos mission happening, I thought it would make things weird if I said anything. But, I don’t know, I guess while we were watching the movie, I had this thought that you were going to leave and that this was the last chance I had to say anything. So I just leaned over and kissed you. You freaked out, but we talked about it, and then we kissed some more – there was a lot of kissing that night, not gonna lie – and then you said that you promised that no matter what, you were going to come back and I quote ‘date the fuck out of’ me.” Keith smiled and a soft blush peppered his cheeks. The sight made a warm feeling spread across Shiro’s chest. “I guess that made me feel like you’d definitely come back. Then they said you were dead and I got really fucked up emotionally. When we found you in the desert, it was the happiest I’d felt in a really long time. I didn’t expect that you’d still go through with your promise, especially after everything that had happened, but I figured you’d say something. But you didn’t. I pushed it to the back of my mind for a while, but then shit hit the fan and it got harder to feel okay about everything after the second time you disappeared.” Keith slipped his hands out of Shiro’s and gripped his knees, his knuckles white. 

“Shit, Keith, I... I had no idea. I... I don’t remember any of that night. I’m sorry.” Shiro wrapped his arm around Keith and Keith rested his head on Shiro’s shoulder. 

Keith shrugged. “It’s okay. Like I said, I don’t actually expect anything to happen between us anymore.” 

Shiro stared at the floor for a moment, processing his thoughts. Then, he looked back at Keith. “Listen, you should know that my feelings haven’t changed. I don’t know how good of a partner I can be. My memory is still patchy in places, and I get really bad night terrors, but I’m willing to give it my best shot. Just please be patient with me.” 

Keith looked like he was about to cry again so Shiro pulled him into a hug. He pressed his face into Keith’s soft hair and a smell like tree sap filled his nose. Keith must have showered while Shiro had been down by the waterfall lake. “That sounds perfect,” whispered Keith. He pulled himself out of the hug to look Shiro in the eye. Shiro couldn’t help but stare at Keith’s lips. They had apparently kissed before, but Shiro couldn’t remember any of it and he was curious. 

Just as Shiro was about to lean in, the door to the suite flew open and Shiro and Keith flew back to sit on opposite ends of the couch. 

“What’s up, nerds? Who’s ready for some snuggling by the fireplace and telling ghost stories?” screamed Lance. Shiro looked over at him with a baffled expression. It seemed that Lance interrupting important moments between him and Keith was going to be a trend. 

“No thanks. I was thinking of checking out the hot springs since I didn’t get to go in the water today,” said Keith. 

Lance rolled his eyes. “We did invite you, Keith. That’s your own fault.” 

Shiro locked eyes with Keith. Keith bit his lip and pushed his hair behind his ear shyly. This was definitely an invitation if Shiro had ever seen one. “I think I’m gonna go with Keith. I didn’t get to go in the water either.” 

“Suite yourself. For Lance, nighttime is cocoa time! Or... whatever this planet uses instead of cocao.”

“Ooooh! Let’s order room service and find out!” said Pidge. 

As the rest of Team Voltron discussed their plans for the evening, Keith and Shiro disappeared into the bedroom to change into their bathing suits. Shiro stood with his back to Keith, feeling rather awkward about changing with him in the room now that they were... boyfriends? Shiro wasn’t entirely sure, but they were definitely more than friends at this point. When Shiro had finished changing, he turned back around to see Keith in a pair of red swimming trunks and a t-shirt. 

Shiro followed Keith out back and down the path to the hot springs. The air was substantially cooler than it had been earlier, the heat replaced with a slight summer chill. Down the path, they found a bored looking Keshiyrian who looked younger than most of the other ones they had interacted with. The Keshiyrian sized them up then waved to a series of gates further down the path. “You’re Paladins of Voltron, right? Feel free to use spring number two and I’ll be here if you need any help.” 

Shiro smiled and thanked them. He and Keith walked towards the assumed correct hot spring and slipped inside the gate. Immediately, the air around them was significantly hotter. Unlike Shiro, Keith didn’t seem to pause, quickly pulling off his shoes and shirt. Shiro watched the tension fall out of his shoulders as he slid into the water. “So, are you coming or are you just gonna watch me?” taunted Keith with a smirk. Shiro would never have imagined that Keith had been crying earlier in the day looking at him now. 

“I wouldn’t exactly mind, but I feel like it’d be more fun in there with you.” Shiro quickly removed his own shirt and shoes and slid in. The warmth of the water enveloped him like a hug and he let out a content sigh. 

“Amazing, right?” said Keith. 

“Yeah. I wish every day was like this.” 

Keith laughed, and Shiro paused to stare at him. When Keith realized that Shiro was staring, he stopped laughing and blushed. “What?” 

“You don’t laugh that much anymore. I was just thinking about how much I’d missed that.” 

Keith rolled his eyes, but even that couldn’t hide the fact that he was practically melting from Shiro’s words. “You’re such a sap.” 

Shiro grinned. “Guilty as charged.” 

Shiro watched Keith look away from him and up at the sky. “Do you ever miss the Earth’s night sky?” asked Keith.

Shiro looked up, marveling how different everything looked. He couldn’t recognize any of the constellations. “All the time. I miss everything about Earth.” 

“Do you still remember the time when we went camping out in the desert?” 

“Of course! That was what? Two weeks into our friendship?” 

Keith laughed. “Yeah, well, that was when I realized I liked you. I thought about rolling over, climbing on top of you, and kissing you senseless.” 

Shiro raised an eyebrow and chuckled. “It’s a shame that you didn’t.” 

Before Shiro could process what was going on, Keith leaned over and pulled Shiro into a kiss. Shiro was completely taken aback, but then he let himself relax and kiss Keith. He felt Keith sigh into the kiss and push his fingers into Shiro’s hair. Shiro pulled Keith closer until Keith was practically in his lap. Keith straddled Shiro, parting his lips so that their tongues could slide against each other. Shiro felt the edge of the hot spring dig into his back. Keith gasped against his lips and Shiro felt himself harden. He heard rather than felt himself moan into Keith’s mouth. 

Keith pulled back to pepper kisses to Shiro’s cheeks and forehead. “If I knew this would happen, I would have said something much earlier,” said Shiro with a laugh, pulling Keith’s lips back to his. 

Keith pressed his groin hard to Shiro’s and Shiro couldn’t help but audibly moan, breaking the kiss. “That’s what you get for driving me insane for so long,” said Keith with a laugh. 

Keith was definitely going to be the death of him. Shiro slipped his hands down Keith’s bathing suit, cupping his ass and pulling him closer so that there was more direct friction between them. Keith gasped as Shiro pushed up against him. 

A giant boom caused Keith to jerk back and within seconds, rain spilled down on top of them. Keith and Shiro scrambled to get out of the hot spring, shoving their feet into their shoes and grabbed their now soaked shirts and towels. They ran straight for the safety of the hotel as the rain poured down on top of them, repeated screams of of “Fuck!” coming from the both of them. Keith was practically cackling with glee. “What’s so funny?” yelled Shiro. 

“I finally make a move on you and we get rained on. The universe really doesn’t want me kissing you!” 

“The universe is dumb and we shouldn’t listen to it!” They finally made it inside and Shiro quickly pecked Keith on the lips before the two of them headed upstairs. 

They entered the suite to find that the common area was completely empty. The rest of Team Voltron must have gone to sleep. The two of them walked into their room, Shiro pushing his soaked bangs out of his eyes. He immediately changed out of his swimsuit into a pair of boxers. A sense of exhaustion washed over him, and he sat down on his bed, ready to pass out the second he put his head on his pillow. He looked over to see Keith awkwardly staring at him in nothing but a pair of boxers. 

“Um... would it be okay for me to sleep with you? In the same bed, I mean? Not the other way! I mean, we can talk about it... but... uh...” babbled Keith. 

“Yeah, we can share a bed. Come over here.” Keith crawled under the covers and moved so that he and Shiro were chest to chest. Shiro pulled Keith into a kiss and Keith moved to immediately deepen it, but Shiro pulled back, his body feeling like he was swimming through thick broth. His eyes could barely stay open. “Hey, I know things were kind of happening back at the hot spring, but running back here kind of took the last of my strength. Doubt I’m good for much else other than kissing. Besides, there’s no reason to rush things.” Shiro could tell that Keith was about to protest so he leaned over and kissed him before he could. “I swear I’m not going anywhere. Tonight isn’t our only night. I promise.” 

Keith relaxed into Shiro’s arms. No matter how much Keith was willing to put on a face, Shiro knew he was just as tired as Shiro was. “Only if you really mean it. No more breaking promises or I will personally cut your balls off,” said Keith, grinning. 

Shiro laughed and kissed the top of Keith’s head. “Pinky swear!” 

Keith looked up at him hopefully. “I know you said you were tired, but I can I ask for one thing?” 

“Mmmhmm.” 

“Can we cuddle?” 

Shiro grinned. “Absolutely.”


End file.
